The commonly adopted materials in the construction of stairs are wood, stone, steel, cast-iron, plain concrete, or reinforced concrete, brick work or reinforced brick work.
Reinforced concrete is most suitable for the construction of stairs.
RCC stairs are durable, strong, pleasing in appearance fir resistance and can be easily rendered non-shippery.
These can be designed for greater widths and longer spans.
In a framed structure of reinforced concrete, R.C.C. stair is the only choice.
RCC stairs can be pre-cast or cast-in-situ.
To change the appearance, RCC stairs can be covered with thin slabs of stone, marble tiles or with terrazzo finish.
Stone stairs are resistant to wear. Stones are found to be durable and fire resisting.
These are commonly constructed in workshops, warehouses and other public buildings. Their usage in residential buildings is generally resistricted to outside stairs.
Being heavy in weight, stone stairs require stable support to avoid the danger of damage due to settlement of supporting walls.
Metal stones are usually fabricated from steel and cast iron and their use is generally restricted to factories, godowns etc.
A metal stair consists of steel stringer to which steel angles are riveted or welded and metal treads are provided over them.
Timber stairs are easy in construction and maintenance and light in weight.
Timber stairs are constructed where fire-resistance is not of much importance.
In timber stairs, the thickness of tread should not be less than 32 mm , and that of the risers as not be less than 25 mm. It is a common practice to adopt the thickness of tread as 38 mm. The riser and treads are connected by tongue and grooved joints and the joints are nailed or screwed.
Landings may be constructed of tongued and grooved boarding on joists. The arrangement for supporting landing boarding differs with type of landing.
Timber stairs are light in weight and easy to construct, but they have very poor fire resistance. They are used only for small rise residential building. They are unsuitable for high rise residential buildings and for public buildings. Stone stairs are made out of hard and strong stones.
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